#this game is testing the limits of my insanity

[bklily]

the implications of Levan!Crowley are all insane and this one is no different

[box-dwelling]

Yeah because those cases were actually fun.

You don't get to mock turn about goodbyes and reclaimed if the case your giving me is dull as shit and drawn out to hell.

I literally stopped this case half way through to replay goodbyes because I needed to remember that this series isn't actually bad and boring and it's just this case. Keep her name out of your dirty fucking mouth

[cowboybabeop]

Vault-Tec Vaults; Game Origin & Location

Hi I'm going to back to my "Fallout Blog" roots. Here is a summary of all of the vaults and experiments (starting with a timeline) because I'm insane ^_^ I had to add a weird break bc I literally hit the tumblr character limit, but I used it to section off the major spoilers for the TV series :)

Timeline

The Great War: October 23rd, 2077

Fallout Bible: Compendium of added lore by the creators.

Fallout 76: 2102

Fallout 1: 2161 

Fallout Tactics: 2197

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel: 2208

Fallout 2: 2241

Fallout 3: 2277

Fallout: New Vegas: 2281

Fallout 4: 2287

Fallout TV Series: 2296

Corporate Vault - Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel - Texas 

A control group vault meant for Vault-Tec employees to continue research, primarily on FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) during the war.

Vault 0 - Fallout Tactics - Colorado 

A control group vault with geniuses kept in cryogenic stasis, with their minds interlinked into an entity called The Calculator.

Vault 3 - Fallout: New Vegas - Nevada 

A control vault. Residents ended up opening the vault doors when the lower levels flooded. Eventually the vault was overrun by Fiends.

Vault 4 - Fallout TV series - California 

A test vault that was filled with residents prior to the bombs dropping. Experimentation on human subjects led to most of the original residents being killed in a revolt. In 2296 the vault is still thriving, while kidnapping surface survivors and continuing to experiment on them. The vault offered refuge for many inhabitants of Shady Sands.

Vault 8 (Vault City) - Fallout 2 - Nevada 

A control group vault that remained closed until 2241. Instead of receiving two G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) devices, Vault 8 received just one and a replacement water chip that was supposed to go to Vault 13.

Vault 11 - Fallout: New Vegas - Nevada 

Every year the residents were told to sacrifice a fellow resident, with the threat of everyone's death if they did not. In reality, the system would praise them for NOT sacrificing an individual and the vault door would be unlocked. This message finally played after only five residents remained.

Vault 12 - Fallout 1 - California 

A seemingly normal, safe vault with an ulterior motive to study the effects of radiation on the inhabitants. The door never fully sealed, and in 2083 the ghoul residents left to found Necropolis.

Vault 13 - Fallout 1 & Fallout 2- California 

Your home vault as the Vault Dweller. A rather normal vault, however due to a shipping mishap Vault 13 received an additional G.E.C.K. device (that was supposed to go to Vault 8) instead of a replacement water chip. Thus, leaving the Vault Dweller to leave the vault in search for a replacement when their only water chip breaks.

Vault 15 - Fallout 1 & Fallout 2 - California 

A vault that experimented with incredibly diverse ideologies and backgrounds. The vault became severely overpopulated in 2097 and the dwellers decided to open the door. Shady Sands was created using Vault 15's G.E.C.K. and the local raider gangs all have origins from this vault.

Vault 17 - Fallout: New Vegas - Mention Only 

Inhabitants were kidnapped and transformed into Super Mutants. Lily originates from this vault.

Vault 19 - Fallout: New Vegas - Somewhere in CA/NV/AZ/UT 

Paranoia was induced by noises, lights, and segregation. The vault was divided into two sections, Red and Blue, with a separate overseer for each sector.

Vault 21 - Fallout: New Vegas - Nevada 

An almost normal vault, with the exception of a culture and society built around gambling. All major decisions were made through gambling, with the decision to open the doors and become part of New Vegas being "won" in a game of Blackjack.

Vault 22 - Fallout: New Vegas - Somewhere in CA/NV/AZ/UT 

A vault dedicated to studying agriculture. A fungus designed to kill pests on plants became capable of infected human hosts. Vault 22 is curiously green on the outside by the time The Courier arrives at the location.

Vault 24 - Fallout: New Vegas - Mention Only 

Remnants of a Vault 24 jumpsuit are found in the FNV game files.

Vault 27 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

A vault designed to be deliberately overcrowded with not enough means to sustain the inhabitants.

Vault 29 - Fallout 76 - Mention Only 

Only children younger than 15 were allowed in this vault, with their parents being sent to other vaults. Harold is believed to originate from this vault.

//TV SHOW SPOILERS//

Vault 31 - Fallout TV Series - California 

Part of 3 interconnected vaults, serving as cryogenic home for the managers and higher ups of Vault-Tec.

Vault 32 - Fallout TV Series - California 

Part of 3 interconnected vaults, serving as a healthy breeding pool for Vault 31 and 33. Somewhere around 2294, Vault 32 failed and the residents resorted to murder, cannibalism, or suicide.

Vault 33 - Fallout TV Series - California 

Lucy MacLean's home vault. Part of 3 interconnected vaults, serving as a healthy breeding pool for Vault 31 and 32.

//END OF TV SHOW SPOILERS//

Vault 36 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

The only food in this vault consisted of thin, watery gruel.

Vault 34 - Fallout: New Vegas - Somewhere in CA/NV/AZ/UT 

The vault was purposefully overstocked with guns with the overseer being able to give/deny access to residents. This inevitably led to it's downfall, and those who revolted and raided the armory relocated above as The Boomers in 2231.

Vault 42 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

No lightbulbs over 40W were provided.

Vault 43 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

A vault containing 20 men, 10 women, and one panther.

Vault 51 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

A vault with a supercomputer as the overseer. Interference from the computer led to most of the residents being murdered by other residents.

Vault 53 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only  

Most equipment was designed to break down every few months in order to stress out inhabitants.

Vault 55 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

No entertainment tapes were provided.

Vault 56 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

The only entertainment tapes provided were of one terrible comedian.

Vault 63 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

The inside of the vault remains sealed, with the outside door being all that is accessible to the player character. Other parts of the vault are revealed through cut content.

Vault 65 - Fallout 76 - Mention Only 

Remnants of the vault remain in Fallout 76 cut content.

Vault 68 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

The vault contained 999 men and 1 woman.

Vault 69 - Fallout Bible - Mention Only 

The vault contained 999 women and 1 man.

Vault 75 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts 

A secret experimenting in refining human genetics through selective breeding, genetic modification, and hormonal treatments. The vault's concept was made by Stanislaus Braun.

Vault 76 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

The home vault of the player character in 76. It was a control vault, set to open after 25 years. This is when the player character leaves the vault.

Vault 77 - Fallout 3 - Mention Only 

Mentioned by slavers in Paradise Falls, this vault was rumored to only contain one man and a box of puppets.

Vault 79 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

A vault dedicated to hoarding the country's gold reserves.

Vault 81 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts 

Designed to develop a cure for every possible sickness or ailment. Residents were unknowingly sprayed with diseases by nozzles hidden in their rooms. The first vault overseer had thought this to be cruel, cut off the scientists from the rest of the vault and cut the nozzles from spraying residents before the experiments could begin.

Vault 87 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

The original vault experiment for 87 was scrapped, and it became a research center for FEV, leaving the vault wildly radioactive and inhabited only by super mutants by the time you access it as the Lone Wanderer.

Vault 88 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts 

An unfinished vault inhabited by ghouls.

Vault 92 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

The best musicians were sent to this vault to "preserve musical talent", but truthfully residents were subjected to subliminal messages mixed into white noise. Eventually some of the musicians went into random, murderous, psychotic rages that led to the end of the experiment.

 Vault 94 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

A vault with non-violent faith-centric inhabitants. The vault opened one year later to search for survivors. The vault became overrun by wastelanders and raiders that destroyed their G.E.C.K. and their nuclear reactor. The vault was swarmed with radiation and is now overrun by mirelurks.

Vault 95 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts 

A vault designed to get people clean and sober. After a successful 5 years, a Vault-Tec agent brought out a hidden stash of drugs for other residents to find.

Vault 96 - Fallout 76 - West Virginia 

A vault with a focus on agriculture, animals, genetics, and mutations. The original residents were killed in a failed escape attempt, and the vault was then used by West-Tek scientist Edgar Blackburn to continue research on FEV.

Vault 100 - Fallout 3 - Mention Only 

Remnants of Vault 100 can be found in game files and cut content.

Vault 101 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

The home vault for the Lone Wanderer. This vault was meant to never open and Vault 101 did not receive a G.E.C.K. However, the overseer of the vault pretty quickly broke this rule and occasional survey teams were sent to the surface. Several residents of Megaton are the result of these survey teams. Daddy James found the vault after the birth of the Lone Wanderer and negotiated his doctoral services in exchange for shelter.

Vault 106 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

Psychoactive drugs slowly released into the air of Vault 106, causing the vault to be filled with psychotic survivors by the time the Lone Wanderer visits.

Vault 108 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

A slew of experiments occurred in this vault. The elected overseer was dying of cancer, the primary power supply of the vault was scheduled to fail after 20 years, the backup power supply would not be enough to power ALL of the vault, the vault was given three times the normal amount of weapons, and the vault was not given entertainment. With a majority of scientists, one of the inner experiments involved repeatedly cloning the same man... Gary.

Vault 111 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts 

Your home vault as the Sole Survivor. All residents were meant to unknowingly stay in cryostasis, with scientists overlooking them. However, conflicts arose among those unfrozen, leading to the vault door eventually being opened.

Vault 112 - Fallout 3 - Somewhere in VA/PA/MD 

Residents lived in a virtual reality simulation to create their "perfect life" with their overseer, Stanislaus Braun, a scientist who proceeded to use the residents as playthings. Braun continuously murdered residents, then wiped their memories and reset the simulation.

Vault 114 - Fallout 4 - Massachusetts

 An unfinished vault meant for only the wealthy. Vault-Tec exaggerated the luxury of the vault, gave residents very small rooms, communal bathing and dining areas, and a homeless drug-addicted overseer named Soup Can Harry.

Vault 118 - Fallout 4 - Maine 

An Unfinished Vault meant to house both a handful of ultra-rich and hundreds of working class individuals to observe how they would interact within the same space.

Vault 120 - Fallout 4 & Fallout 76 - Mention Only 

The vault itself was meant to mimic the underwater atmosphere of Bioshock. The game was cut from Fallout 4, but remnants can be found in Fallout 76 game files.

[redroomreflections]

All Play, No Work

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Not Easily Broken Universe

Masterlist | General Masterlist Summary: Reader walks in on their son yelling at Natasha

Natasha thought it was a simple request. One she’s asked him plenty of times before. It’s time for dinner and she needs him to put his toys and video game away. The mountain of toys and blankets around him signals he’s had his fun. Video games weren’t even allowed on school nights but she let him have it this time.

“Toys away please,” Natasha requests. “Say goodnight to your friends. You’ll see them tomorrow at school.” Ryan nods his head mindlessly the first time. His hands never leave the buttons on his controller. If anything, his fingers move even faster. He understands what she’s asking but he’s too into this round of Fortnite to actually do it. Just ten more minutes. All he needed was ten more minutes. Natasha wasn’t going to press him. He usually listens. Though these days he’s been testing his limits more and more. With a sigh, she goes back into the kitchen to finish prepping for dinner. It’s the first family dinner the four of you have had in a while. You and Emma stepped out to the store only an hour ago to pick up rolls. Emma’s favorites.

Natasha is finally putting the finishing touches on her baked salmon before she can put it into the oven. All of those cooking classes you two took years ago finally paid off. Her lack of cooking skills was her only weakness and you both joked about it constantly. Now, she was insanely good. Her need to perfect the craft-making her even more willing to try new recipes. And she wanted to be able to feed her children healthy meals. Natasha opens the oven with one hand while shoving the glass casserole dish onto one of the racks. She closes the door and walks over to begin chopping cucumbers for the salad. She loses track of time lost in her own world as she prepares the rest of dinner.

A scream from Ryan pulls her from her thoughts. Natasha sets her knife down. Hadn’t she told him minutes ago to put it away?

“Come on, go faster,” Ryan yells from his seat on the couch. Natasha walks with measured steps into the living room. She stands in his line of vision so that he can see her.

“I asked you to put it away, Ryan.” She interrupts his talking. He pretends to ignore her only sending her a glance.

“In a minute,” He hyper focuses on the screen in front of him. He’s having too much fun to finish now.

“Did you finish your homework?” Natasha asks. He’s seven. Of course, he didn’t. Even after she asked him to bring it to her to check.

“I can do it before the bus comes,” Ryan says.

“No, that’s not an option, especially when you don’t even like waking up early enough to finish the homework,” Natasha did not want to deal with a tired kid dragging his feet over addition and subtraction. “Off, now.” Natasha holds out her hand to take the controller from him. She waits, with a sliver of patience, for him to hand it to her.

Ryan smacks his lips. He makes a sound akin to a growl as he presses a few buttons to quickly turn the game off.

“This isn’t fair, AJ’s mom lets him play for however long he wants,” Ryan frowns.

“I’m not AJ’s mom,” Natasha replies. “I gave you more than enough time to play and to pick up your toys. Your mom and Emma will be back any minute and we’re eating dinner as a family.”

“Well, I wish she was my mom. She’s fun,” Ryan mutters. “I don’t want any stupid dinner.” He adds as an afterthought.

Natasha frowns. His anger is far and infrequent since you’ve been around more but he’s definitely still testing his boundaries.

“You don’t have to eat but you do have to put your things away,” Natasha says. She’s not going to argue with him on why he should. She’s not one of those parents that are controlling every aspect of their child’s life but she’s also not a pushover.

“I don’t have to do what you say!” Ryan stands from the couch. He’s barely taller than Natasha’s shoulders but he’s challenging her.

“Ryan Matthew Romanoff,” Natasha begins. “I’m not going to ask you again. Toys away. Video games on my dresser. If you’re going to act like this I’m not going to let you play on a school night anymore.” This seems to set Ryan off and he does something without thinking. A bad something.

You manage to catch the tail end of the conversation as you and Emma enter through the front door. He yells “I hate you,” while tossing the controller at Natasha’s head with full force. Neither of you was expecting this show of anger and you gasped when it collided with her forehead. Natasha’s quick reflexes aren’t quick enough as she stands in shock. For a second, Ryan does too. He looks up at Natasha with wide eyes and a look of fear on his face.

“Ooo,” Emma’s teasing, and surprised tone doesn’t help the situation at all. You pass her the grocery bag before walking over to them.

“Hey, that is completely unacceptable,” You shake your head. Your voice is a little louder than necessary. Just on the edge of yelling as Ryan jumps at your words. For a second he wonders if this is grounds for a spanking. You would never. Right?

“I didn’t mean-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” You shake your head. “What’s going on?” You turn to Natasha to inspect her forehead. An angry red bruise quickly formed just above her eyebrow.

“I asked him to put his toys away,” Natasha’s hushed tone and the tears in her eyes set you off more.

“And this is how you react? Throwing things at your Mama?” You turn back to Ryan. He doesn’t respond only dropping his head to the floor. “No, don’t do that. Pick your head up. You pick these toys up like she asked and you go to your room. Leave the video game on the bedroom dresser.” It’s an instruction just like Natasha gave. He doesn't question you or say anything this time. He moves quicker gathering his toys to put in the bin in a corner of the living room. You can see Emma teasing in the corner of your eye. “Unless you want to be in trouble too I suggest you go find a seat in the kitchen or in your room.” Emma scurries away hoping not to find out what trouble means. “We’ll be back in here in a few minutes and everything better be off this floor.” You grab Natasha’s hand to pull her down the hallway into the half bath. You tap the counter to instruct her to sit on it and she does.

“Has he done that before?” You ask and it’s Natasha’s turn to avoid your gaze. “He has?” Natasha nods slightly. “I know you said he’s been getting into trouble at school but this? He’s hit you before?” Natasha nods again. You remember the phase both kids had when they were younger. As toddlers learn to express their emotions and anger. You taught them better than that. At least you thought you did.

“He gets little bursts of anger,” Natasha shakes her head. “I can’t…I don’t know what to do with that.” She admits. “Kerry says she spanks Miles when he tried it but I can’t. I can’t do that.” Natasha bites her bottom lip nervously. “He’s going through a tough time and -” She doesn’t want to resort to corporal punishment. Her own childhood was riddled with exactly that and more. She won’t put her kids through that. Not even with their less-than-good behaviors.

“That doesn’t excuse it, Natasha.” You say firmly. You bring your hand up to caress her cheek and inspect the bruise on her head. “Jesus, Nat.” You breathe. “I didn’t know it was this bad.” You know you have to nip this behavior right in the bud. Now. It was unacceptable. “Are you okay?” You ask.

“I’m fine,” She lies straight through her teeth. You won’t push it. Twice now both kids have said they’ve hated her. A concept even you find upsetting. They’re directing their anger at her when it should be directed at you. Natasha doesn’t deserve it. She doesn’t.

“I’m going to go and talk to him.” You say. “Take your time in here and I’ll check on dinner.” Natasha’s eyes flutter closed at the kiss you place on her head. You look her over one more time before exiting the bathroom. The first stop is the kitchen. This is where you find Emma coloring at the dinner table. She’s humming to herself and swinging her feet under the table.

“Mommy, is Ryan going to get in trouble?” Emma asks. “Because he said he hated Mama and he threw his controller at her. That’s a no-no.”

“Don’t worry about Ryan’s punishment,” You tell her. “Worry about Emma’s punishment. She told me you said that to her too.” You close the oven after checking it to come and kneel beside her. “What’s with that?”

“I was just mad,” Emma shrugs.

“I understand that,” You tell her. “But that’s not something I ever want to hear you say about or to her. Do you think that makes her feel good when you say that?” Emma’s feet stop swinging as she thinks about it. “Would that make you feel good if someone said that to you?”

“No,” She shakes her head.

“Well, I’d suggest we find better ways of expressing ourselves, right, Baby girl?” You give her a small smile at her look of deep thought. “We’ve gone over better methods than this. You feel angry you talk. You go to your room and take deep breaths. You try again later.” Emma nods. She understands. “Now finish your coloring while I go talk to your brother.”

“I’m going to make a picture for Mama,” Emma decides. Her little legs continue to swing as she pulls one of her crayons from the box. Maybe that will make Mama feel better.

You stand to your full height and take a deep breath. Talking to Ryan may not be as easy. You go to the living room first to find it cleaner than before. All toys put away, tv off, video game missing. He’s done as told. You walk next up the stairs to his bedroom. He’s lying on his bed, arms folded while looking up at the ceiling. He quickly sits up at the sight of you. You try to cool off as you sit next to his legs.

“You want to tell me your version?” You give him a chance. You’re not here to be angry with him. Even if the scene before made you upset.

“I just wanted to play some more,” Ryan shrugs. “She told me to put it away. I didn't want to.” He summarizes.

“You didn't want to,” You repeat. “And how long had you been playing?”

“I don’t know. A long time.”

“Even though it’s a school night and she already allowed you to play in the first place,” You deduce. “And instead of listening and doing as told you decided that you would hit your Mama with an object that could have seriously hurt her. Am I getting that right?”

“Yes,” Ryan mumbles with a look of guilt. He drops his head again and you shake your head.

“Hey, look at me,” You gently prod. “This isn’t the first time you’ve done that. Hit her. Or said you hate her.” You question. “You’re getting into fights at school too? You’re in the second grade. What could you be fighting about?”

“Nothing,” Ryan dismisses a little too quickly.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” You place a hand on his leg. “ Did someone say something to you?”

Ryan pauses. “ Michael said Mama was the reason that you left. Because she’s the Black Widow and she’s a killer and that she did bad things. He said his dad told him that. I told him he was a liar. I don’t believe him. Mama’s not a bad person. She’s a good person. She’s an Avenger.” Ah. That’s where his conflicted emotions come from. While he's been protective of Natasha when it comes to you, he’s also battling feeling like she’s the reason why you left.

Left.

“I’m glad you told me that,” You thank him for his honesty. “I know how confusing it must be for you to hear that about your Mama.”

“But is it true?” Ryan asks. You don’t know which part he’s referring to. “That you left because of her?”

“No,” You sigh. “Ryan I left because I had my own things going on. Nothing to do with your Mama. We hit a rough patch. It’s. It’s not easy to explain but I felt that you would be much better off without me. All three of you. I didn’t want to hurt her anymore. Your Mama didn’t make me leave.”

“Oh,” Ryan’s bottom lip trembled. “I’m always so mad. I didn't mean to hit her. I didn’t. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Whether you meant to or not you did.” You lightly scold him. “You know better than to hit people. I won’t have it. Especially not with your Mama or Emma. The same goes for her.”

Ryan bursts into tears emotions too big for him to express himself properly.

“I don’t want her to leave, too.” Ryan cries. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He buries his face into your neck clinging to you as he sobs. You raise a hand to cradle him in your arms. “I’m sorry. I won’t hit Mama again. I won’t yell at her. I don’t want her to leave.”

“I know,” You whisper into his ear. You feel like complete and utter shit. Truly. You allow him to cry in your arms for a bit longer. Finally, you pull back to look into his eyes. “No one is leaving. Not me. Not Mama.”

“B-but you did leave,” Ryan pouts.

“I know and it was the biggest mistake of my life,” You admit. “Just like I said in the diner I’m working to make that up to you.” Ryan sniffles. “That also means we have to work together as a family to make sure we’re all treating each other fairly. Which means no more of those temper tantrums or outbursts.” Ryan nods.

“Can I go say sorry to Mama?” Ryan questions. You sigh again.

“Ryan, are you hearing me?” You wipe the tears from his face. “Just because you apologize doesn’t mean it’s okay if you’re just going to do it again.” Words you should live by you know.

“I hear you,” He whispers. “I’m not going to do it again. I swear.”

“I’m taking your word for it,” You said.

“Is Mama going to hate me now?” He voices his fear. “Since I did something bad?”

“No, Mama could never hate you,” You say. “Go and talk to her.” Ryan scrambles from your lap to run downstairs in search of Natasha. You stay behind to take a breather. Family therapy may not be so bad.

Ryan finds Natasha in the kitchen marveling over the picture Emma has drawn for her. Before she has time to react he’s hugging her side and apologizing profusely. Natasha removes her arm from being squished between them to wrap them around his middle.

“I’m sorry, Mama, I won’t do that again.” His words are muffled as he pushes his face into her shoulder. “I’m really sorry. I promise.”

“Okay, okay,” Natasha leans back to look into his worried brown eyes. “I accept your apology, Ryan.” He looks up at her forehead before frowning.

“I’m sorry, Mama.” He repeats.

“I know,” Natasha says. “How about we finish dinner together? Hmm. Then we can talk about your punishment.”

“No game for two weeks?” He guesses and Natasha laughs.

“Three.” She smiles at his groan.

“I guess that’s fine,” Ryan still clings to her. “I can help with cooking.” He moves back to stand just as you reach the kitchen. You’re content to watch in the background as she works around them.

No more tantrums. For today at least.

fun question - how would you have handled this ?

[dreemurr-skelememer]

i know that this is all discourse to you all but i feel like its not emphasized enough how much stuff like this has ruined my mental health.

i have never been treated like a person ever since i started gaining a decent amount of traction.

im either just someone to ask for shit from or someone to endlessly tear apart because i talk about my opinions and a lot of people see and you happen to disagree

ive been treated with so much disrespect and awful parasocial actions for years and i dont acknowledge it often because i dont want to make it a thing you see often from me or something i want to encourage by publicizing such actions

i tolerate so much weird shit from people on a daily basis just because i draw skeletons all pretty and nice.

but i am hurt. i am a person and i am hurt and constantly get hurt by this stuff.

im speaking out as a person who is whole and real with feelings, not just as a creator with a responsibility.

i don't usually talk about my personal feelings on things, especially vent about things, but i have my limits. and people test it over and over again and i genuinely don't know what or how to say that i don't feel like a respected person of this community because i simply am just not treated like a person in general.

discourse really shouldn't be so serious but it does affect me and all the various other people who tolerate the same shit i do. parasocialism shouldn't be this bad of a fucking issue but it is and i can't believe it's over a fucking video game au community.

i don't know if anything i say even means anything, but i'm speaking out for me and for my fellow peers for once to be treated with fucking respect. to be treated like we are people, not content farms or whatever insane villains you think we are in your head.

[lunar-alden]

Okay yall I’m CONVINCED this has to be because it was my birthday!!!!!!

Like the game let’s you celebrate your birthday in game for 1 week and literally since the day it started my pulls have been fucking wild????

Like I got Rafayel in my first 10 pull and then when I did a 10 pull with the pity guarantee, I got not just Zayne who was my precise wish, but Xavier too (so both the limited cards I didn’t have) AND an extra Zayne so I could rank him up a level?????

This cannot be a coincidence, especially with getting a 5 star on two separate non-pity 10 pulls, there’s just no way skdjksks

If anyone else has a birthday coming up soon and they have the means to test this theory out please do and tell me the results because this has been absolutely insane!!!!

[mindingmybidness12]

Zombie Lover[Wednesday Addams x zombie! GN! Reader]

Summary: Wednesday learns something interesting about you.

Warnings: Mentions of bodily harm. More on the ridiculous side but still.

Word Count: 700 words

************************************************************************

“Hey, how ‘s it going?”

“You have a knife in your shoulder.”

“Yes.”

“You have my knife in your shoulder.”

“That is correct.”

“Why?”

“Well I was watching a cool action sequence and it had some knife fighting. I wanted to try it but I don’t own any knives. But I knew you did. One thing led to another and… well.”

“Give it back…”

“Ok.”

You reached up and snagged the knife out of your left shoulder. Ignoring the burning pain and the blood pouring out of the wound, you turned to give it back to  Wednesday but thought again.

“Hey… do you mind giving me a second to—“

“I can wipe the blood off myself later. Don’t you think that there’s a more pressing issue to deal with first?”

“Like what?”

“You are bleeding you idiot.”

“I noticed.”

“…you’ll die if you bleed out, you ignoramus.” 

“I won’t die.” You replied while waving Wednesday off without a care in the world,”I have an incredible healing factor with an abnormally high pain tolerance to match. For example.”

You picked a conveniently placed ax off of a nearby desk.

“My ax.” Wednesday supplied

“I will be using your ax for this demonstration.”

“Give it b-”

“Observe.”

“What are you–!”

“Observe. HYAH!!”

With an unnecessary battle cry, you lopped off your own left hand with a swipe, sending your hand and blood flying across the room. Wednesday stood frozen in shock at your insane act. Before she could even begin to start yelling at you for doing something so outrageous, the door to her dorm opened and Enid walked in.

“Hey, why is Thing just slumped on the floor bleeding?!”

Thing crawled out from Enid’s drawer with lotion in tow at the sound of his name. Enid looked between both disembodied hands and then finally turned towards you and Wednesday. She took one look at Wednesday's shell shocked face and towards you with a missing hand and bloody ax and nearly lost her mind.

“Wait before you get mad know that it’ll grow back in-”

*POP*

“Oh there it goes.”  your hand grew back in a spray of blood and wet pop to accompany it.

*THUD*

Enid could only take so much.

“Well that could’ve gone a bit better.”

Wednesday turn towards you and just stared with her usual brand of utter disdain

********

“No, I've never seen how far my regeneration could go. I’m curious but not that curious.”

You were answering Wednesday’s questions of your newly discovered (by her) abilities as you and her cleaned up the bloody mess you left on the floor. Enid was still unconscious on her bed with Thing tending to her.

“Would you…like help discovering the extent of your abilities?”

“No…I’d imagine that would hurt quite a bit.” You raised an eyebrow at the girl's seemingly eager tone.

“We could start off slow. See if you leave any scars from cuts before we jump back to dismemberment.”

“Why'd you already have a game plan? Shouldn’t you be more… I don’t know, weary?”

“On the contrary, Y/n. Your new revelation has left me quite excited I must admit. I suggest you take me up on my offer. After all, it is important to your growth to test your own limits.”

“This sounds like we’re moving a bit too fast in a direction I’m not too sure I wanna go yet chief.”

“I’ll be gentle.” Wednesday promised

“Ayo, pause.” you recoiled at her choice of words.

“Pause what?” she looked just a touch confused at your reaction.

“Just…nevermind.” You didn’t want to have to be the one to explain Wednesday’s accidental bedroom talk to her.

******

“Ok my safe word is “AYO” just so you know.” 

In the end you ended up agreeing to Wednesday’s offer. Now you find yourself strapped to a chair with a tarp placed under you. You and Wednesday were in the Hummer’s shed and Eugene was given orders not to disturb the two of you.

“Also we can just go bury the limbs I end up losing in the forest or you can put them all in jars filled with suspicious viscous liquid…whichever tickles you more. I regrow everything back pretty fast anyways.”

“After my own heart are you?” Wednesday smirked as she snapped rubber gloves onto her hands while standing in front of various sharp pointy torture tools.

“Well, I gotta say. Craziest first date ever. Not even close.”

************************************************************************

A/N: And that's that! I'm not dead hurray! Had to take time off because of life but now I'm back. Leave a like and reblog and comment what you guys think. I'll see you when I see you!

[ruvviks]

it's been a hot sec since i've talked about cyberpunk and i was initially working on a fic that would tell the story of this whole thing, but i've abandoned it many months ago and cannot say when i'll be picking it up again SO! i've decided to instead make this timeline. sorry in advance for how much information is in this thing the cyberpunk extended blorboverse essentially refers to the story parallel to the in-game events of cyberpunk 2077 that @mojaves and i came up with. we don't really have a better name for it but at this point the term has been used so many times that i feel like everyone here knows what it is by now, but at the same time we've never really explained the full scope of what the story is by now (it's a lot sorry). so in an attempt to get you guys a little bit more up to date with it all, here's a semi coherent timeline that describes the core events of the story and every branching story that came out of it! for additional background information, you can check out the following posts (timeline 1 / timeline 2 / timeline 3) to catch up with the continuation of the in-game storyline that's referenced in this timeline, but it's mostly irrelevant to everything here save for a couple of referenced events that cross over between the stories. it all ties together very intricately sorry about that. don't worry too much about it i've included my taglist down below to make sure people who are interested won't miss this post, but feel free to skip over this if it's not your thing! won't be doing a lot of this kind of stuff in the future but i'm trying to get back to the cyberpunk roots so this is kind of like, a good starting point and reference point for later posts!

The story starts in early 2077 and is centered around Sebastian Vidal, gang leader of the Cobras and previous test subject of Arasaka Special Programs (the linked page is a lot of information but gives the most coherent overview of what the branch actually is). The current director of the SERPENT projects, Andrew Colton, and Dr. Alana Cartier, both want him dead, to tie up their last loose end before the rest of Arasaka can find out and shut down Special Programs once and for all.

Over the past months they’ve been hiring various assassins in secret, to try and get Seb killed; however, these assassins keep failing, and their latest attempt lies in the hands of Cassidy Shaffer, an ex-corpo turned assassin with a strong moral code and plenty of experience to his name. With little to work with, as his mysterious client doesn’t give out much information, Cassidy starts with what he thinks is gonna be a quick and easy job– but he ends up hunting after Seb for essentially a year.

During this year, the two men have a series of wild encounters that get more and more insane the longer it goes on; it includes, but is unfortunately not limited to, Cassidy biting off a chunk of Seb’s ear, the two of them running over the highway, the two of them getting handcuffed together and chased by the NCPD then hit by a car right in front of the hospital, and Seb sensually licking blood off Cassidy’s face after having stabbed him when Cassidy wanted to strike at a concert Seb is visiting.

All of it comes to a sudden stop when Cassidy learns his client has been lying to him the whole time, and since he does not appreciate lying clients he ends up jumping sides and teams up with the Cobras to do some cleanup duty in Arasaka Special Programs. He and Seb work together to go after a list of targets to get the still ongoing projects mostly to a halt, while remaining in the shadows themselves as to not draw too much attention their way; and during this collaboration they meet several people from their past, bringing back both good and bad memories.

One of these people is Hanan Chisaka, the Head of Security at Special Programs. She ends up becoming the next test subject of Project Cobra after the last successful subjects, Xavier and Gabriel Mason, end up escaping in the midst of the chaos of Hanako Arasaka’s capture in mid-2077. Once Seb’s best friend and Cassidy’s mentor, she’s now forced to hunt the both of them down; but in their final confrontation she snaps out of the controlled mode Arasaka keeps her in and runs away with them, effectively leaving Special Programs without any test subjects. Another one of these people is Reid Bennett, Cassidy’s ex and ex-coworker back at MaxTac. He still works for the corporation and has been on an ongoing investigation into Arasaka Special Programs; seeing Cassidy alive and well, working together with Seb no less, piques his interest and he continues to look further into the case, which will cause him to make a very big mistake later on in the timeline.

By September 2078, Seb and Cassidy have successfully taken down all their planned targets and retreat back into the shadows, leaving Special Programs with many losses and no test subjects. With the APEX program discontinued a month earlier (incident discussed in this fic, which is a continuation of the in-game events), and Hanako Arasaka recovered and ready to take the corporation back from the hands of her corrupt brother, Special Programs ends up having to retreat for the time being, and cook up a new plan in the background.

Special Programs by this point is run by Andrew Colton, Alana Cartier, and Kaida Akiyama, three players who have been in the game for a long time already in the SERPENT projects’ runtime. Colton and Cartier are married– Cartier used to be married to Seb and cheated on him for a good amount of time when he was still at Arasaka– but their marriage is starting to fall apart. Akiyama has had to watch over Special Ops agent Ambrose Hawthorne for a while during his chase after the Mason twins, which ended up with the twins dead and Hawthorne going into early retirement (Arasaka doesn’t know the twins faked their death and Ambrose is now dating one of them lol), and xe is now determined to help Colton and Cartier get Seb back into Arasaka so the projects can continue.

Cassidy’s initial plan was to leave as soon as the collaboration would come to an end, but he has found his place with the Cobras and instead ends up officially joining them.The next chapter in the story is a more laid-back and easygoing chapter, in which Cassidy learns to be part of real life again, and in which Seb learns to let people get close to him again after spending years trying to convince himself he doesn’t need any help. Over the course of a little over a year (all the way to November 2079), the two grow even closer than they had already done, going on gigs together and, you guessed it, slowly but surely falling in love until they inevitably end up together at the end of it.

Not long after the two get together, Reid returns into Cassidy’s life. He wants to try and be friends again and Cassidy gives him a second chance, though this soon enough turns out to have been a mistake, with Reid trying to create distance between Seb and Cassidy and then going as far as trying to sell Cassidy to Kang Tao (one of the few corporations that have been hunting Cassidy down for a while now) in exchange for his own freedom from MaxTac (where he would have otherwise been stuck at for probably the rest of his life). Naturally, Reid can’t watch Cassidy get tortured for long and leaks his location to the Cobras, who find and free Cassidy and take Reid into captivity instead– he does not get killed, but instead has to sit out some time at a safehouse somewhere in solitude, where he gets to decide what kind of person he wants to be in the future.

This brings us to Elysium; a gorgeous spaceship which was supposed to be a relatively cheap escape from reality for everyone who wanted a refreshing break from Earth, but through Arasaka sponsorship has become just another cash-grab project to compete with the Crystal Palace– and considering the megacorporation has its greasy hands all over it, the secret labs in the spaceship are used for a series of very unethical experiments. Naturally so, it would be the perfect place for Colton to continue his SERPENT projects without the risk of Hanako Arasaka finding out and shutting the place down. He sends forces up to Elysium (obviously after his other attempts at relocating the project to space have failed tremendously, having lost contact with every single crew in the smaller Arasaka stations in orbit around the planet), but since he’s not there himself his cousin (one of the CEOs of Elysium), Maxwell Crane, unbeknownst to Colton, takes control of the SERPENT projects in space instead. From the earlier linked Special Programs page: “Project Eryx used the technology of previous projects, but took a completely new approach in the hosts it used; rather than focusing on the human psyche it attempted to create a new type of cyborg which would lack the humanity that caused previous projects to fail. The Cobra chips were no longer used and the software was instead installed directly onto the host’s mainframe. The flexibility of the new hosts– more robot than human, and in some cases the entire human aspect was lacking altogether– allowed for experimentation with highly advanced cybernetic enhancements and military grade tech and upgrades, turning the test subjects– dubbed ‘prototypes’– into dangerous, unstoppable killing machines.”

Things settle down for Seb and Cassidy, but this moment of peace does not last long. In January 2081 the two find themselves traveling to the spaceship Elysium, to investigate a curious situation in the laboratories– they’ve been hired by Arasaka without their knowledge and it’s a setup to get Cassidy killed and Seb back in Cartier’s control.

While in space, they learn that the secret labs have suffered an outbreak of the above mentioned prototypes. They quickly connect the dots and realize Special Programs is back in the game, and they work together with security guards Aubrey Valentine and Leon dello Russo to try and fix the situation before it gets out of hand. Obviously this fails tremendously and Elysium ends up on a complete lockdown after a ship-wide outbreak, which is eventually contained in late March of that year, with CEO Maxwell Crane dead, leaving only his wife Kinsley Osborn behind.

Elysium continues to exist and is rebuilt after the crisis, and Kinsley Osborn can now finally turn it into the retreat it was always meant to be. Previously, most Elysium employees were to be stuck in space for the rest of their lives; however, with Arasaka out of the picture they are free to leave as they please, which results in a gigantic cut in total employee count in the months that follow.

Seb and Cassidy return to Night City and take Aubrey and Leon with them. Aubrey reunites with his sisters; Becca, James, and Rikki, and soon after his return to the city he opens an LGBTQ+ nightclub called Bodytalk with them, found Downtown, City Center, in June 2081. Not only is it a fun place to hang out at, it’s also his main hub as a fixer, and he starts a collaboration with the Cobras to get business going between the gang and the club; and soon enough it grows into a large and powerful network of connections, which is the foundation on which the rest of the stories are built.

After this point in time, many many more things happen but it would take me another hour or ten to go into full detail of all of that, so instead here’s a quick rundown of some of the other things that Bodytalk gets involved in:

Reid Bennett is handed over to Aubrey and he starts working at the club, and he becomes a very valued employee as well as a good friend to many now that he’s no longer fucking insane

Kaida Akiyama returns from Elysium and shows up to Hanan’s doorstep, to ask for her help with getting out of Arasaka for good; much later on, xe starts working for Bodytalk as well, in an attempt to put xyr past behind xem and become a better person

Urban Dynamite starts performing at the club regularly, and it becomes their home base

Luna Serratos, Cassidy’s ripperdoc friend from all the way back to killing era, gets involved in the Harbinger case from Maelstrom (one of the gang’s most feared members); turns out the Harbinger is in fact Reuben de la Rosa, a by then 22-year-old kid who has ended up in Luna’s care with his friend Noah Telavera after the two got caught up in an explosion. She requests the Cobras’ help with getting Maelstrom to let Reuben go

Officer Michele Diaz from Militech (who used to be Cassidy’s boss) is demoted following the lawsuits after the Elysium incident, and her investigation into the incident in hopes to get her job back leads her to Bodytalk; she begins threatening them and sends the whole club and their allies into uncertain times

Many people get married. There’s so many fucking guys here we went a little insane with the numbers but there’s several weddings and there’s a whole polycule going on too feel free to send asks about this if you’re interested

Cobra Cybernetics releases a new line of cyberware, which is incredibly buggy and dangerous to the public; it’s brought to the club’s attention and it makes them realize that Luiza Vidal (Seb’s sister), who not that long ago asked them to kill her husband (William Colton (Andrew’s brother), CEO of Cobra Cybernetics), has gone missing; they now need to get involved without getting the news out that they actually didn’t kill William and that he is still alive somewhere, while also balancing out dynamics between Biotechnica (angry at Cobra Cybernetics for stealing their designs) and Arasaka (the actual reason why Cobra Cybernetics’ designs look like Biotechnica’s designs, because William stole designs from Special Programs after halting their partnership after the Elysium incident, but these designs had been stolen by Arthur Jenkins from Biotechnica even BEFORE that to be able to hijack the European Space Council’s cybernetics following the Frankfurt incident. Are you still with me)

Vitali Dobrynin (fixer and main character from the in-game events storyline and the continuation of it; Vincent “V” Mayer’s boyfriend) ends up visiting Bodytalk after meeting Aubrey at a Fixer Council meeting, which happens in late 2083; this essentially ties the two main storylines together, which means that yes, a lot of the characters from the two separate storylines end up meeting :]

Officer Ulysses Dimakos (used to work with Reid at MaxTac) is sent to investigate Bodytalk following the Cobra Cybernetics scandal, and ends up teaming up with the club to get MaxTac on a dead trail in exchange for his freedom of the corporation

On top of the Bodytalk / Cobras centered storyline, there’s a couple of side stories that are still connected to the whole thing but are more of a standalone thing with only a few touching points to the rest of it all:

This obviously takes place a lot earlier because it’s already mentioned above, but Special Ops agent Ambrose Hawthorne is tasked with chasing after the escaped Mason twins; naturally he lets them go and ends up going into retirement, and Xavier Mason later on ends up becoming Bodytalk’s part-time repair guy on account of knowing Kaida

Gabriel Mason ends up in a car crash with retired security specialist Ames Ortega, who was also in Elysium during the incidents there, and the two end up babysitting Ambrose and Xavier’s kids together while those two are helping Hanan with getting Kaida out of Arasaka (Are you still with me. Blink if you can hear me)

Mercenary Frankie Sayyad gets a promotion from his fixer, Vulture (real name Diana Crane, Maxwell Crane’s older sister and cousin of the Coltons), and becomes one of her Bloodhounds; he works together with Evelyn Harris, Nimue Nkuna, and Beckett Rydel, the latter being one of the very first test subjects of Arasaka Special Programs, and the four accidentally get themselves mixed into a mystery concerning their secretive fixer

Caleb Harris, ex-security at Biotechnica, ends up back at Club Bodytalk not long after the conclusion of the Cobra Cybernetics scandal, and starts working for Aubrey; he is partnered up with Ramiel Al-Masri, a mercenary who has been working for Vitali Dobrynin for a while and has recently joined Aubrey’s mercenary roster too, and together they dive into a series of gigs neither of them had expected

Journalist Bodhi Shankar has finally found more evidence and information surrounding the mysterious cult gang Umbra and its so-called Prophet, Thiago Salazar; however, his antics have led to him accidentally becoming part of the gang himself, and he has to figure out a way to get Thiago to stop listening to the supposed deity that the gang worships known as Scintilla, before she makes him do things that will get many people killed

taglist (opt in/out)

@velocitic, @deadrlngers, @euryalex, @ordinarymaine, @gurathins;

@mojaves, @shellibisshe, @dickytwister, @mnwlk, @rindemption;

@ncytiri, @calenhads, @noirapocalypto, @florbelles, @radioactiveshitstorm;

@strafethesesinners, @fashionablyfyrdraaca, @aemondtargeryen, @radioactive-synth, @katsigian;

@estevnys, @elgaravel, @aezyrraeshh, @carlosoliveiraa

[gatheredfates]

Hello everyone! This is going to be a bit of a big update this weekend, and probably not the only one you'll see over the course of a few days, but it's twelve thirty in the morning and I need to sleep. I have gone insane again. ✨This is nothing new.

I think the first and most important thing I want to iterate in this update is that I have broadened the scope of who can submit and what Communities I will be accepting for the Compendium going forward. Though consent and owner-approval is still at the forefront of my mind, I have to be conscientious of my own work-load and the health of the project (but mostly the former) when it comes to sourcing Communities. To that end, I want to note the following update on the Compendium itself.

UPDATE 7/26/24: After a bit of introspection regarding my own time commitments, limitations around submissions and the Compendium in general, I have changed my stance around server/community-owner requirements in regards to categorisation and consent. While owner/moderation-approval is still at the forefront of my considerations, it is far better for my limited time (and the Compendium’s health) to operate under the assumption that a publicly accessible site/discord/carrd etc. indicates endorsement for it to feature here. To that end, I am broadening the scope of who can submit and what I include. If you know of a community, regardless of if you are the owner or moderator, I encourage you to submit it.

Or, putting it even more succinctly:

You can always submit via the attached google form, via dms or on The SEAFLOOR Discord. I've made some other changes to the Compendium, but I'll note them further down.

I'm hoping this change, while creating a larger workload for me now, will assist in cutting down my overall stressors later down the line.

But, without further adieu, the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives. ⛵

COMMUNITY FOCUSED / EVENT SPACES

Aethercon — An in-game convention for Final Fantasy XIV! Created by fans, for fans.

Where the Sun Guides — A new community of writers, artists and roleplayers interested in open-world RP in the region of Shaaloani!

Tuliyollal Community Server — A community focused on facilitating RP in the new world, with an emphasis on the cultures found there!

Xaela Community Discord — Do you like roleplaying? Do you like lizards? Do you like the Azim Steppe? Do you like roleplaying lizards on the Azim Steppe? Then look no further! ᕙ XAELA ᕗ is a Steppe RP community based in Crystal & Dynamis that has been around since Shadowbringers.

Far Eastern Festivals — A Community created around Far Eastern Festivals; events with a focus on Doma, Kugane, Yanxia and more!

Kugane Night Market — A spiritual market where the supernatural and mortal may meet for trade.

Leynode Nine — A community focused around stories and roleplay within Solution Nine.

The Fury's Hallow — Within the High House districts of Ishgard lies a respite for weary adventurers, as well as those who wish to test each other in combat. Regardless of your endeavour, may the Fury bless your every step.

Honey Bee Venues — A nightclub. A lounge. A cafe. A cabaret. Honey Bee is all of those things and more but most of all, we're roleplayers looking to meet people as much as our guests are! We pride ourselves on interaction with a policy of never letting anyone be ignored, regardless of who they are or the character they play.

The Tipping Scales — An immersive role-playing fight club on FFXIV that welcomes all levels of experience. Kick ass, take names, make allies.

Mun-Tuy Beans — A hub for Shroud RP! What began quite a while ago as a Duskwight-focused community has grown to encompass any and all creative souls who love the Shroud — for its juicy lore and picturesque settings. Our members (and others!) regularly meet at Buscarron's Druthers every Tuesday evening, and sporadically during the week!

FFXIV Writers — A place for FFXIV fanfiction writers to share their work.

Steppe Ramen — Located on Mateus in Shirogane, Ward 6, Plot 7, Steppe Ramen serves up ramen dishes that fuse Hingan and Steppe flavors.

The New Morgue — Tavern & Fight Night RP venue.

I have tried to isolate communities and events I can see are active, but I have not personally vetted each and every one. Please let me know if you run into any issues.

MISC

Aetheryte Avoidance — Are you determined to never use an aetheryte a day in your life? Are you asking yourself “No, I like my aetherytes, but how would that work?” @snow-system-wol's guide will show you how!

Halcyonalkimos' Gpose Tutorial — Written by @halcyonalkimos, this guide shows you how you can use a friend or a minion to enhance your vanilla gposing!

Teleport Fee Chart — Compiled by DocTabasco on Reddit, this spreadsheet documents all the teleportation fees in the game up to Dawntrail. (Will contain zone spoilers)

CHANGELOG

To facilitate the change with events / community servers, I have placed Free Company servers into the same category as Friends/Casual. My reasoning behind this is that Free Companies have the capacity to be much smaller / intimate than events and communities, and likely will still require consent from their owners before being displayed on the Compendium. This may change if I find something that works better.

Added clarification around personal / single-character ads; namely, while they won't be shown on the Compendium, they are likely to be posted either on the Tumblr Community or Discord.

More information has been added re. the changes to submission and acceptance. Namely that resource / server / community owners can contact me for amendments or removal. Also clarification around some public communities requiring application processes.

The submission guidelines have been changed to reflect the above updates.

The google form has been updated.

SEAFLOOR has the addition of #community-drop to allow members to submit communities as well.

Removed disclaimers around Tumblr Communities due to updates with the beta. It is now up to community leaders to ensure their join links are correct.

SEAFLOOR

We're a Tumblr Community now! For people unfamiliar with the concept of Communities, I encourage you to check out the tumblr post by staff made about them here. However, copy/pasting what I have written in the Compendium, the Community functions as so:

SEAFLOOR (A FFXIV Community) is a Tumblr community whose duel-purpose focuses on my projects — the Compendium, question drives and screenshot events — whilst also reblogging member created works, resources (including events, commissions and looking for content/roleplay/free company posts), affirmations and other xiv-related content. If you are interested in supporting my projects without the social aspect of a Discord, I highly encourage you to join the Community. Everything hosted on the Discord will be cross-posted there; you will not miss out on anything. You can find the link to join the community here.

I'm hoping the Community will function as a member-curated dash, resource hub and visual diary for my projects and member created works. There are no hard feelings if you want to leave the Discord and only join the Community. Please do what makes you comfortable!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Still To Do:

Update Compendium suitability read more (will be done by the next changelog)

Create a new advertisement / submission drive.

Think about my life (and my choices).

[kjzlstuio]

Hello I saw your post, how about tsp headcanons or maybe anything about your au?

OH SHIT SOMEONE PERCIEVED MY AU

I feel like everyone that gets into tsp has an au for their own interpretation and story, so minee uhhhhh I had a plan to make a whole fic + illustration series for it, but I dont have the time or motivation so I'm cool with infodumping. Actually, getting it all down now would make it easier to release content for it, so win win !!

SUPER LONG INFODUMP INCOMING

My au is mostly a character exploration of Stanley and Narrator after years in isolation before it starts getting meta. From adjustment to their new lives, to the evolution of their relationship through insanity, and finally discovering the truth of their world to break free.

The first few chapters are dedicated to Stanley's adjustment from his real life to the game. Chapter 1 follows his daily routine, his commute, his entrance into the building, and suddenly, the silence of his branch. His job wasn't very interactive in the first place, inputting what he was told into spreadsheets or other, but simply pressing buttons is a gross simplification of it. The oddity of the situation hits him, and the narration begins. Truthfully, the Narrator's words align with his thoughts, so while he is uneasy, he does as told because he'd do the same. The Freedom Ending is full of revelations and emotions as he reflects on his life, corners of the office he hadn't seen. Stanley steps outside, the daylight grows brighter, and he resets. Following this is Stanley's spiral through emotions. He doubts the voice in his mind being his own, looks everywhere for clues about his situation, inputs into the pink screens and tests out the story slowly. From barely diverting to a room or two in anxious desperation, to completely opposing the Narrator in anger and spite, Stanley branches into every ending plus some. While it's true that his life had fallen into monotony, the Narrator mocks and berates him not only through dialogue, but through the contents of the world. The building became nothing but a maze of halls, his capabilities as a human limited to button-pressing, his ability to speak lost completely. It was as if The Stanley Parable was made solely to mock his existence. The Narrator and Stanley battle for control of the situation. Stanley reclaims his pride and autonomy through defiance and causing the Narrator suffering while the Narrator retaliates. However, the Narrator always seems to default to wanting a good ending for them both and fulfilling his goal of greatness and artistry. Stanley soon grows to realize this as their time loops progress, and with time, conflicted feelings for the Narrator give in to gratitude and solace in their isolation. (I remembered I had this RP with myself midway through writing, so this might be the best place to put it. Stanley's going through the wringer with his emotions, and at a point, you can get too exhausted to feel what once enveloped you so intensely. Between his anger and his gratitude, there was definitely points of exhaustion. Additionally, even as he "gave in" to the game, he was still exploring every inch, wondering about the true nature of their existence.)

Stanley never would have regained his ability to feel if not for the Narrator. If anything, he should be grateful that his lonely life was brought to someone's obsessive focus. He wouldn't have overcome his anxiety to adhere to instructions, wouldn't have dared explore outside what he was expressly given permission to. Wouldn't have felt so intensely with fear and wonder and anger and self-actualization. He had them to thank. And only them. For years. They only had each other. They couldn't help it that it naturally evolved into something more. Stanley's fear of the situation evolved to desperation once he realized the pattern. Desperation for an exit to insanity for what his life had suddenly become. Insanity to anger, focused onto the source of it all and the mockery of his life. Anger to understanding as the Narrator's intentions became clear to him. Understanding to gratitude. Gratitude to adoration. Adoration to obsession. So on. And the Narrator notices these changes. The Stanley Parable in their eyes isn't a mockery, but an artistic piece and aid dedicated to Stanley. For some reason, even unknown to them, they're very attached to Stanley from the start. While upset to see their piece ripped to shreds by Stanley's choices, in the end, Stanley grows bolder, more expressive, and the Narrator loves to see it. All of this development is slow and takes place within the decade before the next game installment. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is introduced to Stanley in the midst of their odd relationship. Not quite a thing, not quite hidden from each other. They've grown into this routine of cycles, and by now, their endings and interactions with each other far outnumber those in the game. When the new content is added, Stanley doesn't know how to feel. The Narrator had been developing it behind the scenes with unknown outside help for a while. Stanley had long given up on interacting with any other sentient beings ever again, so the new content is overwhelming and scary in that sense. The new stimulation is welcome, but new characters? Even hints of an outside presence, seeing the meeting room covered in notes and speculation over collectibles from unseen employees freaks him out. The need for connection leads him to attaching to these inanimate objects, much like his bond with The Adventure Line. The way humans find comfort in one another through touch and interaction is the same way Stanley feels over the Bucket. Stanley eventually comes to realize that the unknown and overexaggerated connection he felt to it was true. The Bucket is a person. In fact, the Adventure Line is a person too. The Wife mannequin is a person. The Settings is a person. That Cardboard Baby was probably a person too. Who knows. Stanley pieces this together from outside reviews of the game, the story of Employee 432, and the Curator. The company he worked for is the same developer of The Stanley Parable and it ran experiments on its workers and environments in plain sight. The Stanley Parable is an interactive recording of the pocket dimension created by these experiments with Stanley's own experiences being put onto store shelves.

There's a whole subplot with the Settings gradually forming a bond with Stanley as well, and it comes to a head when Stanley attempts to escape with the Narrator. Stanley and the Narrator have a heart to heart about everything. The Narrator feigned ignorance to the Escape Pod Ending, but now knowing everything, Stanley wants to escape more than ever. Without him, this fake world can't exist, and all these people will be freed with them. The Narrator gives in with some time, final reviews of their work together, but for some reason, Stanley remains. The Settings wants to make their time endless, but the world rots without the Narrator there, and the Settings eventually has to let go. Stanley wakes up again in his office. He fears that the game isn't over, but stepping foot outside his door, he hears the rustling of objects, the voices of people, and he stumbles through the office, now back to its original form, with all his coworkers within it. It's awkward knowing they've seen so much of him, and over a decade in isolation has destroyed his ability to interact, so Stanley avoids them all in a mad search for the Narrator. When they finally lock eyes, Stanley doesn't know what to feel, but he feels his voice come out for the first time in forever, and he cries. Everyone sets off to reclaim the lives they've lost, wishing Stanley and the Narrator well as the two awkwardly return the gesture. The Narrator, for once, is at a loss for words, and they part ways before exchanging contact information. Stanley stays with his parent for some time, lost and haunted with his experiences, and the Narrator reclaims what he can of his old life, spending many days waiting by the ruins of their company building for anyone who might return. It doesn't take long for Stanley to come back. Living in the real world again is overwhelming, and he took it a day at a time with the help of his family. Coming back to find the Narrator, Stanley shares everything. While it isn't their fault, he can't just forgive them for everything. His feelings are torn all sorts of ways, and they settle with staying friends, there to help each other acclimate to life again with everyone else, but mostly each other. They make it official after some time. Even though it isn't the best decision. They can't let go of everything or each other, so it's a very codependent type of relationship despite how it looks on the outside.

There's a lot of details I left out obviously. There's a whole Curator and Mariella plot, even more details about Stanley and the Setting's dynamic, all of the secrets in the game that Stanley experiences and their corresponding emotional developments, more character exploration for the Narrator and more of how the world worked (The Narrator was actually an invisible floating mass btw), I COMPLETELY FORGOT THEIR IRL RELATIONSHIP BEFORE THE GAME JESUS. But yeah, that's the gist of it. I'll definitely make more content of it soon.

Phew

MS Paint Concepts

[therealvinelle]

what are the cullen’s hobbies? (not canon ones, things and activities you think they’d enjoy - even if being a vampire made it a little difficult or damn near impossible)

God, my eye is twitching with the desire to give them the weirdest hobbies imaginable.

The Cullens have an insane amount of money and time, and their powers (ultra-fine muscle control, amazing vision, etc.) means they will excel at a lot of hobbies.

The hobbies they are prevented from by their vampirism are things involving animals, professional sports (as you'll have to submit to drug tests and your health and fitness routine being monitored), close contact with people in general, food-based hobbies, and hobbies were humans are likely to bleed one way or another.

To say nothing of how niche a hobby community can get. Everyone knows everything about everyone, and that opens up for a level of scrutiny a vampire might not be prepared for.

So, let's assume these barriers aren't an issue for whatever reason. What do the Cullens do?

(I... admit I wasn't entirely able to resist that weird hobby urge.)

Alice might just find herself doing cat or dog shows. The level of perfectionism and effort that goes into preparing your pet (depending strongly on breed and fur quality, of course, some breeds require little if any preparation. The universal experience, though, is GROOOOOOOOOMMMM and if it’s dogs, then TRAIIIIINNNNN your dog) could very well appeal to her, and I imagine she'd develop her own coat products. Silicone powder, color-enhancing shampoo, volumizing spray, she's got her own line, to say nothing of the edge her gift would give her, as she would know which puppy or kitten to buy. (The "which cub am I choosing?!!" issue being a common one because when a puppy is 8 weeks old you simply do not know if it will grow up to be a hottie or not, and it’s not much easier with 12 week old kittens. This is a science.) Her pets win everything.

Carlisle, well, the trouble with this guy is his work is his hobby. And it's already one vampires are supposed to be unable to do. The man is a fluke. Carlisle's hobby is now to be able to contribute to medical research and reference patients from the 1820's without anybody asking questions.

Edward... god, all I can picture is some intensely esoteric craft, one that five people in the world can do and that creates something beautiful and meaningful. Making instruments, the rarer and more elaborate the better, is the name of the game, I think.

Emmett would love to compete. He's a vampire, he's going to win at everything anyway, he's incredible. He kicks the butts of seventeen-year-old humans who worked hard and makes them all cry because he just took their scholarships. He whoops, beats his chest. VICTORY!!

Esme, cooking competitions. She's winning them all. And, because anon said to remove the vampirism problems, she's not eating her competitors.

Jasper is into theatre. Not because he's particularly interested in it, oh no, he just likes to abuse his gift this way. With his gift he can make the other actors bomb their scenes, or make an untalented schmuck seem like the next Rex Harrison. He's in a movie club for the same reason. He made one guy laugh during Schindler's List. Just the one.

Renesmée, if finding the limitations of her hybridness lifted, becomes a freestyle diver. Who needs to breathe? Usually Renesmée, but not anymore!

Rosalie has her cars already, but she strikes me as a horse girl. Give the girl an unafraid horse, and the ability to compete without that being an issue, and our girl is on a Dutch Warmblood competing on a national level in dressage.

[crisiscutie]

Mother dearest...

JENOVA. The Calamity From The Skies. The "Mother" of Sephiroth.

A wonderful ramble/rant/analysis/whatever by C.C. about hers/its truly...

I've always found this lifeform to be so fascinating, and it's not because I am fond of monsters, okay my bias may have played in a role in it. Yet, what frustrates me is the lack of definition for it. The abilities of it seem so boundless, but obviously, it has some limits, which is why it was eventually defeated by the Ancients, right? But what exactly are those limits? The range of its powers is INSANE. Besides the obvious shape-shifting, it can read the memories and thoughts of almost anything, spawn monstrosities, and grant immense strength, healing factors and heightened senses to those who possess its cells, surpassing human and most other beings by several levels... How the hell was JENOVA defeated!? Then again, you might as well ask why the Black Materia exists while you're at it.

And then there are obvious questions like if JENOVA was controlling Sephiroth during the Nibelheim Incident, or if it is still sapient around the time of OG FF7/Remake even through Sephiroth at the helm...

I'm really hoping that the 7R trilogy will expand on its history and its species (if applicable). We need answers. Plenty of them. The more we learn about it, the more we learn about Sephiroth...

I'm especially hoping for the theory of JENOVA being an Omega Weapon from another planet is true because that would make a lot of sense... And I'm especially curious about how they will handle JENOVA's single line in the FF7 series in Rebirth.

This happens not long after THAT MOMENT... So how it will be portrayed? Will they get another voice actor? Use a distorted version of Aeriths voice? I will be annoyed if it's rewritten as a Sephiroth line.

Another aspect that I find interesting is how Sephiroth's perspective on it contrasts with everyone else's. Despite his intense disdain for human-like attributes such as emotions and sentiments, Sephiroth humanizes JENOVA, while others perceive it as nothing but a monster. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm fairly certain that the only people who even refer to JENOVA with feminine pronouns are Sephiroth and his remnants.

Now, on the flip-side, Sephiroth objectifies everyone else, only using their names when necessary and discarding them like tools once they have served their purpose. When he treats someone more than a tool, then they're just a parasite waiting to be executed. It's interesting how JENOVA is ALSO a tool for him. A special one, deserving of his love and praise. It serves as an effective weapon for the obvious reasons given in the first paragraph. It also satisfies his unmet need for a maternal figure, something he had craved pretty much his whole life. He's really putting the "everything and anything" abilities of JENOVA to the test, huh? And in a twisted way, it holds some truth, just like there is always an element of truth in Sephiroth's web of deceit. And I bet he empathized with it too when learning of his "origins". Being a monster that was used and locked away, similar to himself...

But anyway, Ignoring JENOVA would be like ignoring Sephiroth since it's so integral to his character. Especially when you consider he literally becomes one with at some point in the games. It played a significant role in shaping the Crisis Cutie we adore and love! It's who he is.

Also fun fact: I'm pretty sure that red-pink glow in the Rebirth logo are definitely JENOVA'S eyes.

[sadiramaeart]

Watching BoJack horseman while doing a unit in my psych class about narcissists is insane. It is such an amazing and accurate portrayal. You can never win with narcissists, no matter how hard you try. What a lot of people do not understand about narcissists is they are all ego and no self-esteem. Either they grew up around parents that destroyed their self-esteem so thoroughly that they had to develop an inflated ego to emotionally survive (Bojack) or they were never raised to have an honest and healthy understanding of their own abilities, talents and limitations (which is what self-esteem is) and were instead raised entirely on ego (Mr.Peanutbutter). Using the first example I gave, in a narcissist's head, especially in relationships, their self-esteem will tell them they're not lovable, and their ego will overcompensate saying "Yes I am! In fact, I deserve completely unconditional love!"

And God help the person they fall in love with. They will DESTROY that person to prove to themselves that they deserve unconditional love. It will start out slow and subtle, the narcissistic person creating situations where their partner gives up little pieces of themselves. If you're outside looking in, logically, most of these situations don't make sense. They could easily be corrected without the partner giving up parts of themselves, but it isn't about logic; it's about the narcissistic person making the partner give up parts of themselves to prove their love. When the partner gives up things, their ego will say "look what they gave up for me when I didn't give anything back! I deserve unconditional love and I'm getting it!" and their self-esteem will go "that's not unconditional, it could be worse! you're not as lovable as you think you are". So they move the bar and make their partner give up more, and more, and more.

The show has a lot of really great examples, such as Bojack stringing PC along until she's almost too old to have children because he doesn't want them and she does, calling Hollyhock in the middle of the night to tell her he liked her IG post, constantly tearing down Todd, and literally drowning himself because Diane didn't answer the phone in the middle of the night. These were all tests of unconditional love in his head.

A lot of real world examples of the way narcissists do this (especifically narcissistic men do to their wives/partners) is making them give up their jobs because if they loved them unconditionally, they would trust them with all the financial control, they alienate them from their social circles and friends because if they truly love them unconditionally they don't need other friends and hobbies, they'll usually manipulate them into having their children because if they loved them unconditionally they would risk their health and their lives to give him a legacy. Since all of this is a twisted test of unconditional love in the narcissist's head, they literally can't give even modicum of what they're taking because that would mean the love isn't unconditional. This is also a rigged game, no matter how much unconditional love their partner shows, they are proving the narcissist wrong in some way. They are either proving their self-esteem wrong by loving them unconditionally, or proving their ego wrong by not living up to their twisted standards. So, they destroy their partners, leaving them a husk of the person they were, sacrificed on the altar of their ego. And after all of that, when they have been destroyed mind, body, and soul, the narcissist will abandon them, the person who loved them so much, because they became living proof of how destructive the narcissist's love is. And if there is one thing narcissists cannot handle, it is the truth about themselves. Which is exactly what happened to Sarah Lynn. No he didn't marry Sarah Lynn, but he destroyed her, completely. And his constant guilt over the little moments where he messed up her life is proof of that, he was aware of what he was doing on some level. He was trying to lead her down the same path he was on, and there was no way for her to win. Either she told him his ego is wrong by taking her own path, or she went the same way he did telling him his self-esteem is wrong and destroying herself in the process.

[rapid-artwork]

Are you planning to continue your ‘red lotus korra’ au?

Actually yes! I had to step away from my online art projects for a while due to my job obligations, but I've switched to a new job and have way more free to finish all the stuff I've been putting off.

My current schedule for finishing projects looks like this:

Mother's Favorite: I've written most of the script for the full game and I'm working on the assets and sprites

The Homunculus: I've actually been writing a full length fantasy novel that I'm in the process of publishing! Since it was started as writing practice, it's still very rough and I am polishing it up.

Red Lotus AU: Obviously I'm on a writing kick and I literally just re-read my fic and I'm already working on new ideas for the plot.

More Paper craft robots: I literally cannot stop making these little guys. They are actually for a homebrew table top I've been working on based on Armored Core 6 and after some play-testing I was thinking about publishing a PDF of the rules for free. Plus once I've edited the paper craft files enough I was planning on selling those online for like, a dollar or two for people who want to try making their own at home, and even opening commissions to build custom robots for people and shipping them through the mail.

Patreon Card game: I'm in the process of shutting down my old Patreon since I no longer feel comfortable asking for money since art is not my full time job. But I want to deliver on the card game I promised. I recently got into the Pokemon TCG and Magic the gather again, and I have a whole slew of ideas on how to fix the game and streamline it.

Rapid Pixel Art and Tara and Kevin: My children... I have abandoned my children... I intend to bring these guys back and actually tell their story. I have both of their plots fully written I just actually gotta... Do it ya know?

Mother's Favorite Sequel: Yeah the sequel is already in the works since I am insane. It's a murder mystery aboard a space ship where you have to interview the crew and figure out what happened. It follows a new protagonist but it slowly reveals how the two games intersect in horrifying ways. Imagine that episode of Firefly where they find the ship attacked by Reavers crossed with John Carpenter's The Thing and you've got a good idea of what I'm going for.

Various other WIPs that have been rattling around in my brain.

I've been dealing with ADHD my whole life but finally got an official diagnosis and new medication. It literally feels like an anime where I take of my limiters and I can suddenly use my full power.

I have all the same manic energy but finally enough focus to actually follow through on projects I started. I used to just start stuff cuz it interested me until I got bored and moved on.

No longer says I! I am gonna out in the work and finish what I started. I am going for the platinum medal and 100% completion this time.

[zephyr-rat]

Green Giant Saga: Twitch Character Insights

"My subjects will be like the books of the humans and the sumps, but the tale of Twitch would be even greater. No humans of course, and even in those heroic tales, there were always twists and turns. There were always traitors. Twitch knows better. The sumps taught me so. This bronze brace of mine always reminds. Everyone’s out for themselves down here. But there’s a way for better subjects than those! Creation. Sentience. Life!"

-- Twitch from The Sentient Potion

(You can also read this as "what I do if I have control of Twitch's LoL lore”) (Based off of how I write the characters for The Green Giant Saga)

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It’s hard to find a place to start with Twitch because, currently, Twitch has no lore. Unfortunately, Riot did not give the poor rat an updated bio when the big Piltover-Zaun update came at the beginning of 2017, and ever since then, he’s been sitting with a pathetic two sentence placeholder  bio that says essentially nothing about the character. That being said, to advertise for Twitch’s release in Wild Rift on April 20th, 2023, Riot did release a series of shorts called Twitch Chat: Sewer Tour in which Twitch gives a poor human victim a tour of his collection before presumably shooting him to death. The shorts characterize him as arrogant via his self-proclaimed superiority in taste and cruel as he goes off to test his poisons on an unsuspecting scuttle crab. He comes off as a Looney Toons punching bag. A stupid villain with very easy flaws to exploit for a clever Bugs Bunny type character (probably Ekko or Zeri) to outsmart and make a fool out of. 

While this is a valid direction to go with Twitch (more valid than what the new lore did with Zac), I think it flattens him into this two-dimensional obstacle for better characters to overcome. It also throws away a lot of the motivations, depth, and predefined relationships hinted at the old lore. In the old lore, he joined the League of Legends with the goal of recreating his sentience, making more mutated plague rats like himself, but by joining the League and collaborating with Zaun, he’s now under the possible exploitation and control of the Zaunite government. You could say that he’s one of Zaun’s weapons in the old lore. However, the League of Legends is gone and, with Twitch’s updated voiceover for his visual update, paranoia becomes a huge part of his character, to the point where I just don’t buy Twitch working with filthy topsiding humans anymore. Where does this leave us?

Well, I wanted to explore one particular line found in the old lore: the idea that one of the biggest challenges for him recreating his sentience is “his own insanity”. Where did such insanity come from as someone mutated from the sewers of Piltover-Zaun and how does one overcome such a great challenge? I wanted to lean towards the paranoia of the character and explore how such a mentality formed without contradicting his funny pompous arrogance. In fact, I found a way in which both aspects reinforce each other.

(Art by Martina Matteucci)

Green Giant Saga Twitch:

In my series, Twitch shares the same character base as his VU version in the League of Legends game: a maniacal mutated rat who believes everything in the world should be his, murdering anyone that would get in his way. He’s paranoid of everyone, thinking that they’re aiming to exterminate him and take his stash away from him, and, by all accounts, he’s not entirely wrong.

Twitch is, both figuratively and literally, a product of his environment. He was mutated in the Sumps, the lowest level of Piltover-Zaun, a level that’s so polluted that Zaunites have considered it utterly inhabitable without proper equipment. Down in the Sumps, resources like food and water are extremely limited, forcing the mutated animals to become territorial and aggressive as they fight to find resources just to sustain themselves. Twitch is no exception.

(Art by Cryspan)

One of the most recurring symbols of the entire series is Twitch’s homemade rusty arm brace. In Twitch’s character design, it’s the main component contributing to Twitch’s asymmetry. Usually with a character like Twitch, asymmetry can represent how a character can be off-kilter and uneven. In the context of the story, Twitch sustained this injury after fighting a monster after he asked for food. It was a violent battle, leading to a broken shoulder, but out of that, he gained not only the food he wanted but a corpse to feed on and make poisons with. His stash got way bigger than if he just shared parts of the monster’s food like he asked, and, therefore, he can live longer from the new resources gained than if he did the other option.

The brace is a reminder of what the sumps taught him and he took it to heart. He became one of the fiercest monsters in the Sumps, obtaining a stash that could, in Twitch’s words, rival that of kings. He’s proud of this arm brace as a warrior is proud of their scar after a war. He was the one that killed the monster that day. He was the one that created the cast himself when no one would help him. He earned that monster’s corpse and his food, just like how he earned everyone else’s goods and belongings when he killed them. 

However, the brace wasn’t made well. It might as well be made with shoestring and duct-tape. If he ever made the wrong move, it can be easily ripped off and the arm can be undone. When he gets nervous, he turns the bolts on his brace, tightening it ever so slightly in the hopes that it will stay on, but it will never be enough. No amount of resources can make Twitch feel truly safe.

As time went on, he started to get more interesting loot. Books of fantasy and romance enraptured him. He envied the kings of those pages. Sure he might have everything the sumps could offer with his gigantic collection, but those kings had something he never had: loyal subjects and friends that would follow their leaders anywhere, but this fantasy is contrasted with the cruel reality Twitch lives in. What do we do when the stories we hope for are so different from the life we really live? You make them happen. With hope, you try to make them fit. If he can’t recruit existing subjects down here, he, like in the old lore, would have to make them himself.

(Art by OrlandoFox)

And he successfully did with Zac! (kinda, not really. Read The Sentient Potion for the story) However, he’s not the devoted subject he wanted, and he can’t replace him. After so many failed attempts and dead rats, Twitch has to make this worth it. As the story goes on, the tension between what he was “promised” by the fantasy books he reads and the reality of what he has grows more and more. It reinforces the themes of fantasy versus the reality we have to work with that’s present with Zac’s story. His relationship with Zac challenges his ideas of loyalty, kinship, and what makes a great king. Does he want true friendship with Zac or does he want complete ownership and control of him like the Chem-Barons of Zaun? 

In the Zac character insights, I mention a lot about the idea of individualistic beliefs in the face of systemic problems. In his mind, Twitch thoroughly believes he earned his lot as the sump king of Zaun. He fought through all the monsters and earned his stash fair and square, yet that learned cruelty, greed, and bravado won’t get him what he really wants with Zac. Zac can try to help Twitch be “better” through actions and kindness, but that won’t change the fact that he’s always surrounded by evidence that he has to be the way that he is to not only survive, but thrive. Twitch is ultimately a product of his setting, one that was unintentionally made by the Chem-Barons and Pilties through utter neglect and careless profiteering. To him, this is the only option in the Sumps. He can say that he’s a special king all he wants, but he’s really just another mutated sump creature. 

Twitch’s story is ultimately about how an environment creates us and whether or not we can break away from that environment to grow and change. It’s a story of the ways friendship can enrich lives, but only if one allows it to, and it can be hard to allow it to. After all, who can say no to being the sewer king.

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If any of this is of interest to you, you can read the story here

[nellasbookplanet]

Today I’m going absolutely bonkers thinking about stories where the medium itself becomes so interwoven with the narrative that the two are inseparable and the story borderline unadaptable into other formats.

Lately I’ve been playing a lot of Portal and listening to the Malevolent podcast for perhaps the third time, and as any slightly obsessive fan who desperately wishes for more when I run out of story I find myself thinking ‘man someone should adapt this into a movie/tv show/novel/etc’. And then I stop and think, ‘wait a minute, how?’

How could you possibly adapt the puzzle aspect of Portal into anything other than a game? Sure you could make some cool action sequences out of it, but that would get old quick, and you never get any chance to solve the puzzles yourself. And how could you adapt it without them, when the tests are a deeply intrinsic part of the narrative? You would end up with a vastly different story.

And Malevolent. Malevolent! Rarely have I experienced a story that so masterfully not only gets around the limitations of its medium, but uses them to their full advantage. How do you explain your lead constantly speaking out loud to themself (since the dialogue-only format doesn’t allow for internal monologue)? Why, put a possessing entity into their head, so that they’re literally never without a conversational partner! How do you fit visual descriptors into the story, since characters explaining their surroundings out loud would be weird? Make one of them blind and the one possessing him his seeing-eye entity, of course!

How could you possibly adapt any of that into, say, a movie? Having the entity describe visuals the viewer can already see would be distracting, but having him not do it would break suspension of disbelief because why is Arthur not constantly bumping into things? Of course, you could remove the blindness, but aside from being a shitty thing to do it would also remove the delicate balance of power between him and the entity that forces the two to co-operate.

I’m thinking about these two stories especially because it’s where my obsession lies right now, but there are lots of examples of similarly interwoven narratives and medium. Think of epistolary books, webcomics with animated images and music, webnovels so adapted for a digital format with links and gifs and layout that actually printing them would take away from the experience (everyone go read What Football Will Look Like in the Future and An Unauthorised Fan Treatise right now, you can thank me later), or other podcasts that give their narrator an intrinsic reason to speak and describe everything aloud, such as The Magnus Archives and The Mistholme Museum (which I need to catch up with, by the way). It drives me insane! The medium is the message!